A place 4 my questions & ponderings as I build a 34 Gallons (127L) tank

[AilyNC]

Ok I might be mad but...

I think I'm gonna do a big water change when my new plants arrive. I need to get all the In-Vitro gel out but I also want to take out the gross rotting food. And I wanna know why my water is going from Tap GH 14 to Tank GH 11.

Finally this tank has had plants from the beginning and they're growing quiet well - so now I'm finding it hard to raise the ammonia without covering the tank is gross rotting food.

Am I insane to switch to silent cycle on Day 12?

I know @Retired Viking & @ClownLurch & @seangee have done silent cycle.

 

[mbsqw1d]

Get as much plant mass in there as possible, but something like anacharis and/or frogbit, you can float them (and the anacharis if you don't want them in the final scape), then add half a dozen fish.

 

[ClownLurch]

I dunno. I’m a beginner myself.
A lazy one at that and silent seemed the easiest way to go to me as it seemed to require very little water testing. Plus I’d be buying plants anyway so got em in ASAP. Plus lockdown was at its height and the lfs/pet shops were either shut or only selling pet foods/medicine.
Byron had named something like the nine best plants for silent cycling and I managed to cobble together eight of em from a combi of eBay, a neighbour and an old mate who’d I’d not seen for years.
It seems a nobrainer to me tbh...and this from someone without the brains to photograph the tank on day one to give himself something to compare growth too!
I suppose your filter will have a head start on a complete silent cycle.
Search for Byrons post and you’ll find his recommended plants.

 

[seangee]

Finally this tank has had plants from the beginning and they're growing quiet well - so now I'm finding it hard to raise the ammonia without covering the tank is gross rotting food.

Am I insane to switch to silent cycle on Day 12?

No this would seem the sensible thing to do. If your plants are coping with all the ammonia you can throw at them there is little point in adding more. You basically have 2 choices:

1. Wait for the nitrites to drop to 0, do a large water change and start adding fish. That will ensure that your nitrite eating bacteria (nitrobacter) are up and running
2. Do a large water change and start adding a few fish per week.

Remember that if the plants can deal with the ammonia the tank won't produce any more nitrite. If you had a source of pure ammonia it may be worth continuing but fish food also contains other stuff - which could cause an imbalance which would be appreciated by algae or other less desirable bacteria.

 

[AilyNC]

I think #1 sounds sensible. Let Nitrite fall and go from there. When the new plants come I'll vac up some food cause it's gross

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Hey, I tested the GH in my tank, and it's still the same as my source water, so it's not the sand at least.

 

[AilyNC]

Hey, I tested the GH in my tank, and it's still the same as my source water, so it's not the sand at least.

It'll be interesting to see if the GH goes down when I do a big water change and stays down after a week

 

[AilyNC]

Yay! Plant delivery.

Java Moss, Cryptocoryne crispatula, Frogbit, Cryptocoryne Wendtii Green, 3x Xmas Moss, Echinodorus Bleherae, Vallisneria Nana.

Looking forward to finishing the moss tree & setting up the Aquascape. Also vaccin up the rotting fish food & going silent cycle.

My Azalea Root is almost sunken, pushed into the sand it'll stay down.

 

[mbsqw1d]

Kind of got used to that wood floating around now....


How are you going about attaching the moss? Glue?

 

[AilyNC]

Kind of got used to that wood floating around now....


How are you going about attaching the moss? Glue?

I used glue with first half but not liking the white that appears when it dries. I thinking of trying to wrap it on the branches and then secure with thread. Once it grows & settles cut & remove the thread.

@Wells was able to just stick his to the branches without thread or glue.

 

[Ch4rlie]

@Wells was able to just stick his to the branches without thread or glue.

Sounds like he used magic?

 

[AilyNC]

It worked for me too but I'm too nervous about it all coming up so used a little thread too. I'll cut it off in a few weeks or else the moss can just grow over it and hide it.

Ok big job this evening took hours. I emptied 80 litres from the tank. Cleaned my plants & planted them. The root still don't sink but it will look lovely when it does with some plenty growing between the spidery branches.

I've another aquarium stone coming Thursday that I can use to boost up my tree as it's too low down. I ordered a dimmer switch & timer but I think that's it for the tank.

Only other purchases will be replenishing tab roots & of course the fish.

All in all it was an expensive set up. I don't even want to add it all up

 

[Ch4rlie]

That’s nice actually. Can see you’ve done a lot of work to all that.

Be lovely once all established and the root wood gets properly waterlogged (eventually!) and goes where it belongs and all the plants grow out a little.

Nice

 

[AilyNC]

List of plants for myself & pics to track growth.

Java Fern
Java Moss x2
Christmas Moss x4
Vallisneria Nana
Lagenandra meeboldii red
Echinodorus'Reni'
Echinodorus Bleherae
Limnophila sessiliflora
Limnobium laevigatum
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Green
Cryptocoryne Beckettii'Petchii'
Cryptocoryne crispatula
Hygrophila corymbosa

 

[AilyNC]

That’s nice actually. Can see you’ve done a lot of work to all that.

Be lovely once all established and the root wood gets properly waterlogged (eventually!) and goes where it belongs and all the plants grow out a little.

Nice

Thanks. I ordered the Cryptocoryne crispatula you recommended. Has a nice texture to it. I think it'll be well planted but still nice bit of swimming space. With a few small sized fish in groups of 10 it'll be lovely to watch